Moving ball! Moving ball!

Just close your eyes, stick your arse out, wobble your bat at a funny angle and hope. It’ll be fine. This is the technique for dealing with the moving ball.

There is absolutely no way that this is the wrong approach. Three people out? Just stick with it. It’ll reap rewards eventually. One day.

Of course balls always move, but not always sideways. Make the Aussies bat against swing bowling or on a green pitch and suddenly it’s catching practice. Today against New Zealand, only Michaels Clarke and HusseyÂ knew what to do as Australia were bowled out for 214.

What are Australian domestic pitches like? Are they generally flat and true? Has the last 10 years of Australian batting dominance roughly coincided with a period where Test match pitches worldwide have been produced like Australian pitches?

Test cricket these days requires tall bowlers (preferably quick) and wrist spinners. Nothing wrong with that, they’re two of the best sorts of bowlers, but it does seem to us that swing bowlers and finger spinners used to have more of a role in Test cricket and that these are two types of bowler that have never really thrived in Australia.

The Kiwis aren’t exactly thriving with the bat at the Gabba this week either.

But the cricket world should make the Aussies feel at home when they coime to visit. they have such a long way to travel and they so hate losing.

Steve // November 21st, 2008 at 08:53

Funny how you just carp on about Australia and have made absolutely no mention the past several posts, on England’s dismal showing against India 3 matches in a row. I suppose you’re so used to rubbish from England, you hadn’t even noticed it. Bit like complaining about the smell of French toilets, when all London smells like one.